NASA has announced that the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission are now halfway to the Moon.
Artemis II marks the first crewed lunar mission since 1972. The Orion spacecraft will not land on the Moon but will instead orbit it using a “free-return trajectory,” allowing the Moon’s gravity to propel the capsule back to Earth.
The crew comprises three Americans—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch—and one Canadian, Jeremy Hansen. They launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 18:35 local time on Wednesday (00:35 Thursday CET).
By Friday morning (Belgian time), the spacecraft had exited Earth’s orbit and begun its journey toward the Moon. The astronauts have already sent their first photos of Earth back to mission control.
The Artemis II mission is scheduled to conclude on 10 April, when the Orion capsule is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
